Theirs is a world where the first words you ever hear your soulmate says is written on your skin. It can be unforgiving, and cruel sometimes. Yet, at times, utterly romantic.

Genos' mum had the sweetest words curved around her ribs. You must have come from heaven, because you look too good to be true. His dad is ever the romantic, and he loved that those were the first words mum had ever heard him say. Even if his own weren't much to look at, just a simple - Oh, I'm sorry, is this seat taken? - written at the slope of his shoulders.

They had met on a train, when she was on her way to her grandmother's place, and dad was just heading to work. He never did end up going, following her to see the family instead, and got hitched not too long after. The perfect soulmate story.

"I don't like my words," Genos said, crying when he finally learnt how to read them. His mum pulled him close and hugged him as he cried for hours. "I hate it," he said. "What if I hate my soulmate too?"

Genos' mum had hummed, "They're your other half," she said, "And your soul is screaming for perfection."

"But my soulmate is mean!" Genos said, lips twisted in a pout.

"When you've met them, it's as if something clicks into place. A part of you that you never knew was incomplete, is suddenly whole again," his mum continued.

Genos frowned and crossed his arms, "I don't like my soulmate, I won't like them!"

His mum laughs, and it irritates Genos. She's not taking him seriously.

"Oh my darling, you'll like them," she teases. "Definitely."

"No!"

—

Saitama's six when the words come. He wakes up due to a burning sensation on his thighs, and when he screams, his parents come running. He's clawing at his pajama bottom, and they pull it off Saitama only to stare at the words.

"Your soulmate has just been born Saitama," mama says, and Saitama is grumpy because it hurt! Later, when the pain goes away Saitama's happier.

His soulmate has just arrived in this world! And those are the first words he'll hear them say.

"What does it say mama?" he asks, and his mother obliges and says the words for him.

"Oh," Saitama says disappointed. He was expecting something different.

He wants a naughty word like his papa. Mama shouted - damn you idiot! - When her purse got snatched, and it's written at papa's forearm.

Papa said - shit it's you! - And they both stared at each other before running towards the snatch-thief together, and ever since then they've fought countless of times, but they still stared at each other with such love in their eyes.

Saitama's words were boring. It sounded like his soulmate is going to be some sort of bossy person too!

"I don't like my soulmate already," Saitama mumbled. "They sound boring!"

"Aw kiddo, you'll like them! They're meant for you after all!" Papa said and ruffled Saitama's hair.

Saitama continues to sulk for days, but afterwards, they don't matter at all.

—

"Do you want me to retain your soulmate's words?" Dr Kuseno asks Genos just before the surgery begins.

Genos stares at the words on his wrist. He hates them, and yet, they've been a part of him for so long.

"No," he says. Revenge is the only thing that matters now. He doesn't need a soulmate. Not one that calls him a little shit. He needs to avenge his family and a useless soulmate will only drag him down.

"Are you sure?" Dr Kuseno asks again, and Genos tries to nod, even as the sedatives pull him under. "I'm sure," he slurs. "They're mean."

Dr Kuseno has a little smile on his face. He doesn't have words on his skin, which could mean that his soulmate has passed away before meeting Dr Kuseno, or they weren't born yet. It wasn't unusual to have a soulmate that's way younger.

"Alright," Dr Kuseno says.

Genos goes under.

When he finally wakes up, he's a cyborg now, and the words are no longer there. He stares at his hands, gleaming under the light.

In the place where his heart should be, is the feeling of a thousand heartaches.

He doesn't need a soulmate, Genos thinks. Not at all.

—

When monsters start rampaging the cities, and when Saitama decides to be a Hero, he comes to the realization that his soulmate might be a Hero too. Saitama trains harder than ever so that he'll never have to evacuate when the moment comes, and he'll be able to help his soulmate.

Saitama grins. That night he stares at the words on his thigh. His thigh is getting firmer by the day, and he's proud of his progress.

Soon, Saitama thinks. Soon, he'll meet his soulmate!

And they'll both be Heroes, saving the day.

—

Later when Saitama's stronger than he could possibly imagine, he loses hold of his emotions. Everything's dull and boring. Life's a monotonous act. He loses hope of finding his soulmate and he wonders if his soulmate would even like the idea of someone as dull as he is.

Ah, Saitama sighs.

This is boring.

—

"Get back here you little shit!" Someone yells, and Genos turns.

That's.. Those were the words on his wrist before he became a cyborg!

His mum told him he would feel as if he's complete now, that he's whole again.

All Genos feels is incredulousness, and also horror.

Genos stares at the bald man in the yellow shirt, and tacky shorts spraying a can of repellent everywhere. That's his soulmate? It can't be!

He's always thought that his soulmate was calling him a little shit. But it turns out his soulmate is merely shouting at a stupid mosquito? His soulmate is still talking and he's looking at the swarm of mosquitoes with disgust.

The Mosquito Girl's aura is getting stronger, shit, he needs to finish this quickly.

"You over there, evacuate now," he says, and his soulmate immediately stares at him and points. "You! You're my soulmate!"

As luck would have had it, it's then that the swarm of mosquitoes come charging in effectively ending any more conversation between them for the moment.

When Saitama eliminates Mosquito Girl with just one punch, Genos falls in love.

—

Saitama falls in love the moment Genos tells him that if they run fast enough, they might still catch the Saturday Mega Sale.

No one's ever cared about the things that he's liked the same way he does. It's the silliest thing, but it's the one that warms his heart.

He smiles, and holds Genos' hand when they return from the sale.

—

Their first kiss is just after they both manage to get into the Hero Association together. Saitama's grumpy that he's only a C-class, but Genos makes it up for it with kisses.

He's not grumpy after that.

—

It's a quiet life together, but one Saitama cherishes.

It isn't as boring anymore, with Genos around.

—

And that is how he has found his soulmate whose words are not etched on his skin, but deep in his soul.

This is what it means to have perfection.

It isn't about finding another half to make a whole, it's how Saitama fits into the cracks that Genos didn't even know he had. It's how Saitama's presence enhances Genos' life. It's not two halves of a whole. It's to shine brighter than before.

It is the sum of two equals.

—

I do not love you as if you were a salt rose, or topaz

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms

but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;

thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,

risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.

I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;

So I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,

so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,

so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

- Pablo Neruda - Love Sonnet XVII